


Always Here

by SneetchesToo



Series: 911 Lonestar Week [2]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, F/M, Family, Gen, M/M, Softness, lone star week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24011332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneetchesToo/pseuds/SneetchesToo
Summary: Always Here (Team Fire!Fam)“Whatever happened Michelle, we’ve got your back.”
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Grace Ryder/Judd Ryder (9-1-1 Lone Star), Michelle Blake/Owen Strand
Series: 911 Lonestar Week [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730191
Comments: 13
Kudos: 47
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week





	Always Here

**Author's Note:**

> This is for @911lonestarweek, Day 2. It is nowhere close to my finest piece of writing and I’m very uncertain about how I feel about this. (Today’s been a rough day). But I wanted to get something out, so here it is. Enjoy!

Michelle should have known that this day would come.

She should have known that she couldn’t keep it a secret forever.

And yet, she had tried her best to hide it for far too long.

She had covered it up and hidden behind her humor and uniform and she had prayed that her friends stayed oblivious to what was going on behind closed doors.

Because as bad as the abuse was, as bad as the bruises and the hurtful words were, nothing would compare to the embarrassment of those closest to her finding out.

Judd surely wouldn’t believe her, Billy was his best-friend after all.

And Carlos would think she was crazy, just like he had thought she was crazy when she told him that Dustin was messing Iris up.

So instead she had held it all in and taken each blow as it came, learning not to flinch or fight back because it only made things worse.

She had waited for the perfect opportunity to leave, knowing that Billy would be too busy in the hospital to come chasing after her.

And when Carlos didn’t even bat an eyelash at her asking to stay with him, she wondered if he secretly knew something was going on.

But he never said anything so she just kept to herself until she was able to find a place of her own.

Billy had been released three weeks later, the firehouse losing its flagship team in the middle of his stay, and he hadn’t bothered coming to look for her.

—

That was why it had been shocking to her to hear Owen say that he was playing golf with the man.

She had thought Billy would have moved on by now, that he would have realized that this wasn’t his house anymore.

But she had been wrong and deep down, she knew she would be.

Billy fought dirty, as dirty as they came, and she knew that he would stop at nothing to take Owen down and get his job.

And she had been right.

Billy exposed Owen’s cancer and she had watched as everything around them seemed to be falling apart.

She was taken back to the days of watching her whole world shatter around her as Billy tortured her endlessly.

She couldn’t let him destroy Owen.

She couldn’t let him destroy the family she had finally found with them.

Luckily for her it seemed that God may have been on her side, and Owen’s too, and Billy was forced to walk away with out much of a fight.

—

It had been a quiet six months after that.

Billy had stayed at his station and away from Owen.

And she had convinced Owen to stay away from him.

She had been hesitant to tell Owen about the abuse when they had started dating.

But he never questioned her odd behavior or her reluctance to take things further than they had.

Rather, he had been incredibly supportive and nonchalant about the whole thing.

It had almost made her suspicious of him, almost.

He was the first guy who hadn’t treated her like property.

Who hadn’t smacked her around and talked to her like she was trash.

He didn’t make her feel like she was any less of a person just because he could.

Instead, he had treated her like royalty and talked to her like she was his equal and nothing less.

She had been surprised by his behavior, but then again, she wasn’t.

—

She was however surprised to find him standing at a high-top table with Judd and Billy one night.

She instinctively felt the need to run, to be anywhere but there, to disappear into the night.

If he was back in ‘good graces’ with Billy, than she was ruined.

But Carlos had kept tugging her along, dragging her toward the usual booth as he motioned for Ed to get them their normal drinks.

And then she found herself squeezed between him and Paul as a round of drinks was placed before them.

“I ordered appetizers about ten minutes ago.” TK mouthed around his straw. “Should be here soon.”

“Good.” Paul didn’t hesitate to drown half his beer in one sip and she totally understood. “I’m starved.”

It had been the shift from hell and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep.

She still didn’t know how she had let Carlos convince her to come out tonight.

“Someone needs to tell Cap to come join us.” Mateo piped in and she prayed they didn’t volunteer her.

“Chelle?” Carlos turned toward her and she felt her heart start to race. “You wanna go grab him? He’ll listen to you.”

She shook her head as she reached for her beer, taking a sip to try and buy time.

“I got it.” Marjan swooped in to the rescue and she said a silent ‘thank you’ to the other woman for saving the day.

She watched as Majan made her way toward the table, nodding in the direction of their group as she spook softly. 

Billy nodded his head, Judd chuckled, and Owen shrugged with a smile before the trio made their way toward the booth.

She felt her heart start to race as she saw the older man head toward their group followed by Owen and led by Judd.

She couldn’t breathe and she needed to make an escape before he got to her.

“I um… I left something in the car.” She practically shoved Carlos out of the booth and sprinted toward the front door, her body gasping for air as she stopped a few feet from the front entrance.

She was thankful that she didn’t have much in her stomach because the next thing she knew she was empty what little contents she had left in her onto the ground beside Carlos’ Camaro.

This was not how tonight was supposed to go.

They were supposed to share a few drinks, maybe do some dancing, and then she was planning to let Owen talk her into going home with him.

Although, at this point, who was she kidding?

He didn’t have to do much to convince her.

“Chelle?” She heard Carlos’ voice as she felt a hand on her shoulder and she swallowed back another round of vomit. “You okay?”

She couldn’t find words so instead she nodded her head.

“Want me to get Owen?” Carlos and TK were the only two who knew that they were officially seeing each other, and while she was thankful for the privacy it allowed, she was hesitant that it would mean a lot of drama once word got out.

“No.” She didn’t need him to know about this.

She didn’t need him to see her like this.

“Then you need to talk to me.” She stood upright then, her body turning to lean against the passenger side door as she took a few deep breaths. “Something’s bothering you.”

“I’m fine.” She whispered, her arms wrapping around herself tightly. “Lunch just didn’t sit with me well.”

“We ate the same thing for lunch,” He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared her down, “but nice try.”

“Nothing’s wrong Los.” She just wanted him to disappear. “Go back inside, I’ll call an Uber.”

He shook his head as he sighed and then she heard it, Billy’s laugh, the laugh that haunted her dreams.

She let her gaze drift in the direction that it came from and she watched as he made his way toward her with Owen by his side.

She felt like she was going to be sick again.

“I don’t want them over here.” She choked out her response as she turned away from the pair and she heard Carlos take a breath before she heard his feet crunching on the gravel.

She tuned out the conversation that was happening only a few feet away but then she felt an all too familiar hand against her waist and she jumped.

“I’m gonna take you home.” She was thankful for the sound of Owen’s soft voice against her ear and she couldn’t help but nod her head. “Let’s go.”

Stepping away from the Camaro she let him guide her toward his Jeep, climbing inside before he shut the door behind her.

She could see Billy glaring at her from the door and she swallowed back a round of tears.

This was turning into the worst night ever.

—

Owen had driven her home in silence, his hand resting against her knee the entire way, his eyes never leaving the road ahead of them.

Once they made it to her place she had exited the vehicle and headed inside before he had even turned the car off.

She had stripped her clothes down on the way to the bathroom and was in the shower, under the scalding hot water, by the time she heard him shut the front door.

She knew she needed to tell him what was wrong.

She knew she needed to let him in.

But what happened between her and Billy was not just something that she could casually bring up.

Was it?

“I’m gonna order us a pizza!” She heard Owen call from the hallway and she silently nodded her head. “Take your time, you know it’ll be a while.”

She knew that he couldn’t see her but she couldn’t find words just yet so she settled for the unseen gesture.

When she emerged from her bedroom almost an hour later she heard the sound of laughter coming from the living room and she prayed that whoever it was didn’t include Billy Tyson.

“There she is.” Carlos was relaxed back against the couch, TK slouched against his side, smiles on both their faces. “We were beginning to think you’d melted.”

Judd let out a chuckle and she wrapped her arms around herself.

She didn’t understand why they were all here.

“We thought we’d come to you since you didn’t wanna come to us.” She heard Grace’s voice come from the kitchen and when she turned she saw the woman was pulling drinks from the fridge, her right hand reaching out to swat at Owen as he reached for the closed pizza box beside him. “You wait.”

“Get him Gracie.” Owen glared at the other man before moving toward her, stopping in front of her as he reached out and let his hands rest on her shoulders.

“I can tell them to go.” He whispered, his thumb brushing along her collarbone softly. “We just all thought you could use a little support with whatever’s going on…”

He didn’t push her to tell him though, instead he just stood there in front of her, waiting for her to make the call.

“I just didn’t…” She swallowed as she closed her eyes briefly, reopening them when she felt his forehead fall to hers. “I didn’t wanna be around… certain… people.”

She prayed that he understood what she was saying without having to actually say it.

“We came to that conclusion.” His voice was so soft and gentle and it was nothing like the screaming she was so accustomed to. “Whatever your issues with Billy are, we can work on them, together.”

She nodded her head as she stepped into his arms, wrapping hers around his waist tightly as she buried her face against his neck.

“Come on lovebirds!” She heard Judd’s voice call to them after a few minutes. “I’m starving.”

“I guess he and Grace know…” She pulled back and raised an eyebrow in Owen’s direction, causing the man to smile back at her.

“They’ve apparently known all along…” She rolled her eyes as she looked at the couple over her shoulder. “They were waiting for us to say something.”

“Of course they were.” Grace beamed back at her as Judd made a face, resulting in Carlos busting out into a laugh, followed by TK. “Come on guys, let’s eat.” 

She nodded her head as she pulled from Owen’s grasp, making her way toward the living room and sitting down in the giant armchair. 

“Ladies first.” Judd motioned for her and Grace to grab their plates first and she heard him whisper Billy’s name to Owen, watching as the other man nodded his head softly.

She prayed that nothing else would be said about it but then Judd was appearing beside her, his arm going around her shoulders as he whispered to her.

“Whatever he did, I’ll kill him for it.” She blinked back a round of tears as she stood stock still beside him. “Don’t give a shit if he was my friend. You’re more important.”

She didn’t know how to respond so she simply nodded her head, swallowing when she felt him press a kiss to her hair before stepping back into his place in line.

Once they were all seated she had finally start to feel herself relax.

That was, until, TK opened his big mouth.

“Whatever happened Michelle,” She snapped her head up to meet the younger man’s eyes, her heart racing in her chest as she waited to see what he had to say, “we’ve got your back.”

“Yeah Chelle,” Carlos spoke up next and she felt Owen’s hand wrap around hers tightly, “whatever happened, whatever bullshit that jerk put you through, we’re here for you.”

“We’re always here for you.” Grace added, a soft smile crossing her lips as she reached out and patted Michelle’s other hand.

“Always.” Judd piped in, his arm wrapping around his wife’s shoulders as he pulled her close. “We’ve got you.”

“No matter what.” This time it was Owen’s voice and she turned toward him, her heart softening at the genuine look of concern and respect on his face, the look of, what was that, love, that graced his soft features. “We’re a family. We handle these things together.”

She nodded her head as she felt tears come to her eyes.

She couldn’t believe that after everything she had been through that she had ever though that she had to deal with it alone.

Especially when all this time, she had the perfect support system by her side.

She knew the day would come when she would have to face what had happened in the past.

And now, she wasn’t so afraid of it.

**Author's Note:**

> **Comments make me happy!**


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